


you will always be the rest of me

by aliatori



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Polyamory, happy birthday Gladio I love you
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-02
Updated: 2019-04-02
Packaged: 2020-01-01 04:14:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18328409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aliatori/pseuds/aliatori
Summary: “Gladio?” Noct asks, placing his hand on Gladio’s forearm. “It’s a yes or no question.”Some dreams are worth waiting for.





	you will always be the rest of me

**Author's Note:**

> Happy birthday, Gladio. <3

Gladio holds the tangible evidence of a lifelong dream in his hands.

Not crown nor title, though both adjectives apply to the intricately wrought metal resting on his palm. He studies the fluid, sweeping points of white gold, each sharp peak tipped with an immaculate diamond. No, even though it’s half of an expensive crown, its whole counterpart settled on Noct’s brow, its mirrored twin decorating the right side of Ignis’s face, the dream it represents can be ascribed with far more humble words:

Devotion. Partnership. Family. Love.

“When?” Gladio asks, unable to tear his gaze from his palm. Okay, unable might be a strong word. He’s scared if he looks at either of his partners, he’ll lose what shreds of composure he’s clutching tight in his other fist.

“I believe ‘how’ would be a better question.” He doesn’t need visual confirmation of Ignis’s smile—he can hear it in the soft cadence of his statement, quiet where he’s normally sharp and precise.

“Ignis is fishing for compliments,” Noct adds helpfully. “What? You are. Granted, you got stuck dealing with the impenetrable fortress that is Senior Administrator Fordola, but it was my signature that overturned the ancient, crusty decree that the King or Queen of Lucis has to be wed to one person.”

“A signature you placed on a document I acquired through hours of tenuous, heated debate with the Council and the New Lucian Administration...”

Gladio tunes out the bickering, Iggy and Noct’s voices reduced to comforting, familiar background noise; ten years of darkness and three years of rebuilding a nation together haven’t changed that, at least. His mind is still working over the word _wed_ , a single, incidental syllable amidst the chaos of their explanation. Despite an image of bravado and swagger over the years, he’s always been more sentimental than the other two, a fact he doesn’t advertise widely or admit to easily. He first brought up the idea of marriage over a year ago and had been shot down on both fronts—royal nonsense on one and bureaucratic nightmare on the other. Pragmatism outweighed sentiment and he’d considered the issue dead and buried.

Until now.

“Gladio?” Noct asks, placing his hand on Gladio’s forearm. “It’s a yes or no question.”

“Huh?” He lifts his eyes to Noct, who appears equal parts annoyed and amused.

“Did you really just zone out on me proposing to you?”

“Might have,” Gladio admits, tracing the lines of the crown in his hand with a thumb. “Wanna ask again?”

Noct blows air through his lips in a decidedly unkingly gesture. “You want us get down on one knee or what?”

Gladio lets out a bass rumble of a laugh, because the alternative would be crying, and since he hasn’t cried since the dawn returned, he’d like to keep his track record solid. “Sure, and why don’t you get Cor up here on the roof to officiate while you’re at it?”

“I don’t believe Marshal Leonis has the authority to officiate a wedding ceremony,” Ignis begins, studying Gladio with his bright green eyes, “but the other item is well within our purview.”

Without further preamble, Ignis sinks down to one knee, the motion full of the gracefulness that first attracted Gladio to him all those years ago. He’s even more handsome now than back then, and the scarred notch in his lip turns pale white as he smiles up at Gladio, dirtying his Lucian ceremonial robes on the luxurious tiled roof of the Citadel.

Noct follows shortly after, old scars and injuries making the process a little slower, and there’s a clank of metal on stone as his knee brace hits the floor. Still, his expression is earnest when he turns his clean shaven face towards Gladio, feathery plaits of black hair framing his jaw. He lends pride to the act of kneeling, a testament to how far he’s come as both king and man. “How’s this?”

 _How’s this_ , Noct asks, as though swearing his heart to Gladio like Gladio swore his life to Noct, kneeling and all, is a regular occurance in Insomnia.

“This is stupid,” Gladio declares as fresh tears trickle down his cheeks and through his beard in hot rivulets. “You’re both idiots,” he adds in a noticeably thicker voice.

“Which is why we can’t do it without you. Marry us?” Noct asks with an easy, confident smile.

“Iggy?” There’s no forcing Ignis into anything he doesn’t want, but Gladio has to be sure.

“You’ve been my friend and partner for nearly two decades, Gladiolus. Between you and Noctis, you comprise the entirety of my heart, and nothing would bring me more joy than to be your husband in deed as well as name.”

Gladio's known the answer to this question for almost half his life, a foregone conclusion if there ever was one, and his words finally catch up to his instinct.

“Yeah, yeah… okay, I agree to be stuck with both of you forever. Now get up off the damn floor and come here,” Gladio says quickly.

Ignis is the first to rise and the first one Gladio sweeps into his arms, crown still clutched in one hand, and kisses. It’s a chaste kiss, but the way Ignis smiles against Gladio’s mouth makes his heart soar. He peppers Ignis’s cheek with a few more affectionate brushes of lips before turning to Noct.

Noct holds up a hand to stop him. “Hold on a sec—let’s see how that crown looks.” Gently and inexorably, he pries the beautiful adornment from Gladio’s fingers and reaches up towards Gladio’s face. Noct’s touch is surprisingly deft as he places the half crown on the left side of Gladio’s head, the metal dipping low behind his ear to hold it in place.

“Good enough for Your Majesty?” Gladio quips.

“You’ve always been good enough for me.”

“For us,” Ignis corrects.

Noct grabs a fistful of Gladio’s robes, pulls him down, and kisses him—thoroughly, deeply, lovingly. Ignis, in the smooth way that comes with years of practice, slips in once the kiss breaks, and the three of them embrace, limbs and breath and bodies as intertwined as their hearts have been for years.

“I love you both so much,” Gladio murmurs as the rising sun washes over them, voice laden with decades of emotion brought to bear.

“We know.” Noct and Iggy give the same reply in unison, one indulgent and the other fond.

The crown feels strange and heavy on Gladio’s brow, but the last piece of his dream that comes with it does not:

Husbands.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos are appreciated if you enjoyed! <3 [sometimes I post on Twitter](https://twitter.com/AliatoriEra)


End file.
